Mara knew her lover was going home. To Tatooine, leaping into her ship and immediately lifting off, much to the frustration of the ignored spaceport authorities. Stars became beams of light on her view screen. Though she denied this in front of Luke, she did enjoy the view. It reminded her of freedom and possibilities, even during the dark days she was under the Emperor's whims. She suspected Luke knew, which was why he had gifted her several starships after the Jade's Fire had been destroyed on Wayland. The Jade's shadow, her personal flagship, was amongst his gifts.

Luke stepped in the castle as he did so many years ago, facing Rotta the Hutt calmly, his cold blue eyes under a cloak concealing an evil smile. So many years ago he had walked in a jedi, refusing to use his force to subdue the guards. The new and awakened Luke had no such reservations, and soon found himself before a Hutt. Luke pondered about Leia for a moment. He coudl sense her as she left the planet, completely unaware at one points her ship was barely several hundred meters away from his cloaked vessel. Luke found it almost poetic that his sister was right yet again. He had come to Tatooine. These thoughts were interrupted much to his frustration.

"Silly jedi! Silly jedi!" Rotta bellowed in his deep and oily voice, much like his father did so many years ago.

Rotta laughed in Huttese before pressing a button. But Luke was prepared, and simply stepped backwards. Before Rotta could beckon his guards, bright beams of lightning crackled across the room, as cries of agony quickly became a deadly silence, the purple bolts stronger even than Palpatine's prized ability.

"Jedi? I am no jedi. Jedi trust people, limit their powers. No, I prefer...force." Luke didn't lift a finger, but Rotta began choking uncontrollably. The Hutt's eyes widened, small hands stretching helplessly into the dry and stale air.

Luke was tempted to end the Hutt right here and now, but let go of Rotta, coolly stating, "You will give me what I need." Rotta simply grunted in affirmation.

Mara watched the countdown impatiently, with the ship reverting to real space upon reaching zero. She looked down at the desert planet of Tatooine. Luke had told her much about the planet. In fact this was when Mara first saw Luke, though he didn't know until much later.

As she landed her ship on the outskirts of what was formerly Jabba's palace, she observed a sleek silver ship parked near the entrance. She gave the ship a once over, admiring the inconspicuous heavy armour, advanced shielding and state of the art weaponry. She made a mental note to find Luke's supplier once she managed to talk to him.

Not wanting to cause a scene, she took a side passage, noting that the palace was oddly empty. She thought Jabba's heir Rotta would have resided here. Must have moved bases. Something was wrong, but Mara didn't know what.

As she reached the throne room, Mara's eyes widened in horror. Rotta the Hutt lay motionless on his platform, surrounded by charred marks on the floor. She knew these marks could only be created by one weapon. Shuddering, Mara wondered to herself who did this. A distant explosion disturbed her thoughts and she immediately had a very bad feeling.

Rushing out the main gates, she was greeted by the fiery wreck of her ship, or what remained of it. In the distance, she saw a yacht slowly disappear from view. Luke! Mara cursed, hoping he would hear. Daring him to come back. But the ship did not waiver, and now she was all alone.

After a day of helplessly wandering through Rotta's palace, she finally salvaged a speeder bike, determined to find Luke now more than ever. As she sped through the Tatooinian desert, a yacht came slowly towards her, before long flying alongside her.

Mara looked up questioningly, and was greeted by Erv and his daughter's wave. As the two vehicles slowed to a halt, Erv descended down the ramp, greeting Mara before asking, "So Luke blew up your ship huh? Some friend." He eyed her questioningly, and Mara knew she had to explain to Erv about her "friendship" with Luke.

"Well, it's complicated. As you know, Luke cared deeply for me, loved me I dare say. Deep down, I loved him too, but I never admitted it. Every time he brought it up I humiliated him or shut him out. Several months ago, a week after the annual trade show on Coruscant, Luke took me to the opera, knowing it was my passion."

Ignoring Erv's questioning glance, she continued, "Not by any means Luke's fault, the opera was horrible. He tried apologizing all night. Later that evening, I decided that Maestri Salieri, the director, was responsible, and wrote him a very, um, colorful letter."

Erv gave a confused look, urging Mara to continue.

"Anyways, I accidentally sent the message to Luke, and now he thinks that I don't want to see him. Within the day the message got leaked, and the entire holonet was bombarded with criticism of Luke. People called him a Sith, a traitor and so much horrible things. Apparently Leia had already tried talking Luke into a political marriage, and Luke was expectedly very unhappy. When his sister found out she must have hurt him so bad. Her remarks to me were hard enough. And now he thinks the galaxy is against him. He's gone through so much, do you understand? And now I'm scared he's turned Erv. Back in the palace, everyone was dead, and there were char marks everywhere."

Erv nodded grimly, understanding the implications clearly. He couldn't believe Master Skywalker, the same Luke that had been so kind to him, could, no would do a thing. Of course he was more than capable, but for him to use such a power. Erv could only imagine the hurt Luke had bottled up so well.

"I should have been there," Erv stammered. "All this time when he was carrying the galaxy's weight on his shoulder, and I didn't even know. I have failed him. Take my life madam. I am not worthy." Mara noted how similar Erv was to Luke, and surprising herself, instinctively wrapped her hands around Erv, just as Luke has so often done for her. If only she had done this with Luke when he needed her most. Mara always teased Luke about saving him. In truth, he had saved her more times in combat alone, and emotionally, the scales were even more tipped.

Erv quickly toughened up, before grimly stating, "Mara, we will find him. I promise you we will find him." But where? The silent question between them was evident.

Luke felt a pang of guilt as he entered into hyperspace. He remembered the times spent with Mara on the ship he had just blown to dust. No! That was a lie! She was a manipulative enemy and he had just delayed his pursuers by hours if not days. All is fair in war after all.

Luke shook his head. It was all a lie. Mara had pushed him away. So had Leia. And the entire galaxy. He would make them pay. Suddenly, he felt a disturbance in the force.

Within several hours, Luke was on the outskirts of the Jedi praxeum. He pushed his ship ever faster, landing quickly and rushing just in time to see several hooded figures cut down Kyp, long time friend of Luke. He let out a blood curdling scream, the guttural voice echoing throughout the halls of the praxeum. The seven hooded figures turned to face Luke, revealing their red faces and discarding their cloaks. Their leader, a cyborg woman, stepped forward, declaring, "Luke Skywalker. Master Jedi. You have failed. The Jedi are dead. The Sith will rise again. Your precious New Republic will fall. Remember me?"

Luke stared coldly at the red haired and yellow skinned woman-Lumiya, lady of the Sith.

"Sith?" Luke stated, before breaking into a malicious laugh, causing Lumiya to shudder and the adepts behind her to look at each other uneasily.

"You know nothing of the Sith. Or true power. The Republic will fall, I assure you. I will tear them apart piece by piece myself until there is nothing left. I suppose I only have to thank you for getting rid of the only people capable of stopping me." Luke gestured towards the corpses of his former students, having long forgotten the slight anguish slipping past his control. He had crushed that, just as he would crush everyone who wronged him. Just as he would crush the fools standing in front of him.

Raising his hand, Lumiya eyes widened and she let out anguished screams as her cells were crushed individually, a cold rotting plague spreading across her body. Within moments, her lifeless body fell to the floor with a thud, her inside completely charred beyond recognition, leaving behind the shell of her body. He whipped out his lightsaber, the same green blade that had failed against the Emperor, dragging the corpse in front of him as he slashed over and over in a flurry, becoming two green circles slowly carving away at the body to any untrained observer. He had left her face largely untouched, but her body was skinned, so wrong but in its own way elegantly executed.

"Kneel," Luke stated calmly as the blade deactivated.

In desperation, one adept charged, raising his lightsaber and letting loose a war cry.

"Never!"

Without lifting a finger, Luke snapped his neck, taking off his own hood to reveal a pair of deep yellow eyes and a cold smile.

Another adept turned off his blade, throwing herself to the floor and stammering, "I yield myself to your desires master. Please spare me!"

Luke walked slowly towards the woman, feeling her fear oozing out of her body. Luke savored the feeling, before stating coldly, "You will obey my orders without question."

She nodded eagerly, and Luke's smile widened. Without lifting a finger, he seized another adept, a Zabrak male, suspending him in front of her with his immense control of the force, his gaze never leaving the unnerved adept. "Kill him," Luke stated. She lifted her blade, and closing her eyes to avoid the desperate eyes of her friend pleading for mercy, striking deep into his chest as she felt his force presence flicker into oblivion.

Luke lifted his hand, force lightning vaporizing the corpse in an instant, before commanding to the remaining adepts standing, "Kneel my children. You are lost, abandoned as I was. Together we will teach the galaxy of their mistake."

The two adepts, both human females, knelt quickly, staring at Luke's feet in fear and reverence. One male stood defiantly, and Luke bombarded him with force lightning, cackling as purple bolts so intense the air cracked. The other adepts watched in fear as their brother was slowly tortured to death, Luke ripping the Zabrak apart cell by cell but refusing to end him. Not yet at least. Yet just before the man was about to die, Luke lifted the charred body in front of another adept, looking at her expectantly. Without a second thought, the groans of the man were silenced.

"I am Darth Waise, heir to the empire, son of Darth Vader. Rise my children, for you are no longer abandoned." The three adepts rose quietly, following at a respectful distance behind their new master as they strode to the newly anointed Darth Waise's yacht.

Mara had felt the disturbance across the galaxy. Her skills unhoned, she could only guess from vague visions and bursts of emotion. But what she saw terrified her. Screams of anguish and pain flooded her mind. She envisioned force lightning eerily similar to her former master, yet so much more deadly and painful. She could only imagine who commanded such power. A normally reserved and self restraining friend came to mind. Mara tried to dismiss those traitorous thoughts, but they persisted. Somehow she knew it was him. Ever since he blew up her ship. Their ship. Mara saddened slightly at the thought. "If I can bring him back, it will be all worth it," she told herself.

"Erv, take us to Yavin IV. And prepare your weapons."

Entering the atmosphere, Mara looked at the peaceful green surface of Yavin IV. She often wondered what would have happened if she took Luke's training. Too late now.

Descending down to the coordinates, Mara tensed at the eerie silence. The normal praxeum was filled with the force flowing through it. Now, it felt so empty. She stared out the viewport at the praxeum, its paths leading to various other buildings completely empty. Something was wrong. At least her danger senses remained silence, meaning they should be clear for now. Or that what they were about to face was exponentially more powerful than Mara.

Exiting the ramp, Mara walked through the entrance, her steps echoing down the silent halls. Mara soon found corpses among corpses. Children, adults, male, female, human, alien, all killed. She felt sorry for Luke. It seemed his life's work was crumbling piece by piece. We'll find out who did this, she swore silently. She noticed two sets of char marks on the floor. Telltale signs of force lightning. Looking further, Mara's eyes widened. Before her was the mutilated body of her former enemy-Lumiya. Years ago Lumiya had kidnapped Mara, and only through many injuries had Luke been able to save Mara, though not without letting Lumiya escape in the process. For such a powerful warrior to die like this, Mara shuddered at the thought. The list of possibilities became far fewer. Only one was remotely possible, but Mara wouldn't let herself believe it. It couldn't be.

Entering the security room, she turned on the holocams, watching in horror and anger as some cloaked figures walk around the temple, slaughtering hundreds of jedi in their path, red blades easily slicing past the white training blades of desperate orphans Luke had taken in. She was about to turn the hologram off, but paused when she saw a familiar person enter the main entrance.

She had no doubt it was Luke, yet even through the holocam, she felt something was wrong. The next few moments confirmed these suspicions, as Luke killed the leader, revealed as Lumiya without so much as the lift of a finger, going on to mutilate her body with a flurry of elegant blade strodes. He proceeded to electrocute two more, and Mara swore she saw a smile on his face. Not the normal farm boy smile. No. This was a cold smile. She didn't like the thought of Luke using force lightning by itself. But repeatedly and against others? The possibility that he in fact was responsible for the thousands of Jedi disappearing across the galaxy surfaced.

Mara shuddered at Luke's power. He had always restrained himself. It frightened her just to imagine what Luke could do to her. All those times she had practiced with Luke and thought she was his equal, commenting on how he had grown weak. How wrong she had been.

Mara wanted to cry out in desperation right then and there, but was transfixed on the screen. She felt tears forming on her green eyes, recoiling in horror at the sickly yellow eyes that claimed the soft blue pupils she had once loved so dearly. How could Luke have fallen like this?